By Odin's Beard
by amanichan
Summary: AUish. Quest fic. In which Loki finds himself enlisted on a quest he didn't want.
1. Prologue: The Trial

AN: Here's my first foray into my latest and favorite OTP. I hope I don't do the Marvel universe any disservice. Beware, I do suffer from multi-lingual grammar problems. This is a quest fic with emphasis on the FrostIron pairing. And a very so build. If it is not your thing, sorry about that. So thank you for reading and hope you've enjoyed the story so far.

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**Prologue: The Trial**

"What say you, Loki of Asgard?"

Despite the golden halls of the eternal realm being filled to the walls with its citizens, the silence that follows the All-father's sentencing was deafening. And yet, Loki standing alone upon the accused pulpit remains unmoved by the proceedings.

His infamous silver-tongue lifted not once in defense. His gifted lips opened not once to cajole his audience. And his soulful eyes reached out not once to plead for sympathy. For once, Loki the God of Lies and Mischief chose not to play the game.

The empty silence stretched on into awkwardness.

Then unease settled into healthy suspicion amongst the crowd. Murmurs of dissent increased in volume as the tension rises. Yet Loki remains still as a statue carved in marble.

Unfazed, the royal family also remains rooted at their designated seating. Only their eyes shifted towards each other, to share their concerns for their estranged brother for the heir apparent and adopted son to the king and queen.

Unused to Loki missing his cue, Odin hesitates for another moment until he taps Gungnir against the floor to end the susurrus. The All-father opens his mouth to ask the question once more but the breathy echo Loki heard in his head was not Odin's own.

Even then, that only caught a flicker of interest from Loki before it darted toward the still figure of the All-father. As amusing as it was, green orbs narrowed in annoyance before they scan the halls for confirmation and immediately turn their focus on the three wispy apparitions that appear so suddenly.

_"What say you, Loki of Asgard?"_

If the silence left by his non response was deafening before, the vacuum caused by their suspension of time, drowned his senses with its absence.

At last, Loki attempted to speak but no sound emitted.

_"You need not speak,_  
_For us to hear._  
_Tell us then, Loki_  
_What say you?"_

Their voices, airy as the wind, volley between them like water droplets from leaf to leaf. The apparitions spoke in unison and yet not. But that was not the cause of the disconcerted crease between Loki's brows. He's met them before despite their cowl visage and yet can swear he's never lays eyes upon them in his long, long life.

Relenting the mystery for now, Loki cautioned his mind and ventured a thought.

_"To borrow a leaf from my non-brother's book, 'I'm not in a gaming mood'. What do you want from me?"_

His simple words brought forth the trio to shiver and a vibrant blue halo outlined their form.

_"Ah, I remember,_  
_The gaming prince,_  
_Who likes to cheat,_  
_Births a prancing stead did he."_

Never would Loki have thought that old slander would be chanted once again in his adult life. _"What nonsense is this?"_

Their color shifts to white.

_"By your hand,_  
_Frozen treats,_  
_Lined city streets,_  
_Is that not what nonsense stands?"_

Loki couldn't help but deadpan. _"Now that is new."_

Then white shifts to burning red.

_"Ah, tis true,_  
_In all we knew,_  
_The battles won,_  
_And the foes that'd lost,_  
_Garnered dues,_  
_And rendered sum,_  
_Left all but years,_  
_Whose life you've spared,_  
_The cost but none,_  
_And end with one."_

Ah, divination. Loki should have known. _"By the Norns, you are they."_

_"Clever, Godling_  
_Sapling,_  
_Tears you've won,_  
_But not clever enough."_

The Norns were to the citizen of the eternal realms as the Aesir themselves were to the Midgardians. They were powerful beings, titans, giants and what not who tends the tree of life. Mere tales told to Aesir children to gloat of their heroic destiny, of their importance to the Nine Realms. So as much as the novelty of seeing the All-father, Thor, and the whole Aesir population muted by such powerful beings, Loki couldn't suppress the cold chill of foreboding with their ramblings.

_"What do you want with me?"_

_"Ah yes, a task to seek,_  
_To collect from what is lost,_  
_What say you?"_

Deaden emerald eyes brighten for the briefest of moment with banked fire. A mockery of the brilliant gem it once was at the height of the God's free fall. Bitterness lines the corner of his lips and disdain taints his words barely above a rasp.

_"Have I a choice?"_

The red faded to a warmer hue before they continue.

_"The branches of Yggdrasil have many paths,_  
_From which you take,_  
_Is yours to make."_

Their rhetoric was giving even the God of Lies and Mischief a headache.

_"What farce is this? Your presence may have postponed the All-father's verdict, but I already know of my fate. Death's lover waits at my final destination. There is no choice to be made."_

_"Remain at the crossroads and the decision will be taken from you."_

Enough was enough. Loki allowed his temper to flare for the briefest of moments.

_"Do not speak riddles to the Trickster God himself. Is not your issue of a task another mask road to redemption? Do not suppose I seek it or will value the lessons learn. I have nothing left worth to value or defend. Go spend your meddling elsewhere."_

Then blinding white suffused the entire hall at a burst.

_"Silence, Loki of No-realm."_

It was most unfortunate his wrath was nothing like the Norns. The forceful pressure of their raised voice in his head could have squashed him like a boot to an ant, an apt metaphor he was so fond of using back in Midgard.

_"Before the dawn of winter,_  
_Gather your mortal elements,_  
_And the quest for chaos shall begin."_

With much unease and sudden urgency, Loki's thoughts awash with frantic questions strive to form a coherent sentence but none made it to the Norns. In another spectacular flash of white they disappeared.

Time resumes accordingly and the cacophony of alarm drew an uproar. For Loki, the Trickster God no more, fell crumbled onto the golden floor as if the strings of his life were cut.


	2. Chapter 1: Father Knows Best

**Chapter 1: Father Knows Best**

Odin All-father was very much aware in spite of the Norns exerting their divine intrusion upon Loki's trial. In such times as these, their visits were never good but always a necessary evil. He's met them once before, when he was all but known as Odin, son of Borr.

The Nine Realms was different then: so full of war and strife. He had truly believed these wild savage wastelands were destined to be conquered by his father and be inherited by him and his siblings.

It was on the eve of another campaign against another nameless enemy that Odin was visited by three ghostly apparitions in his chamber. They chanted in rhymes and riddles, hinted at glory untold awaiting him if he would but take it. By the Norns' machination, Odin discovered the nature of his own cruelty by forsaking his own father in battle the very next day. The fool he was, interpreted their words at face value and realized too late the double edge sword of their verses. Odin had thought the power he sought was within him to yield, to be drawn forth upon seeing his own father in peril. In the end the power did manifest, but at too high a price. By then it was too late. Upon his father's death, the sons of Borr gain all his powers and Odin the very throne he never imagined to covet in such a way.

But that was not all. A century later, another layer of the Norns' verses revealed itself in the battle against Surtur. Despite Odin's increased powers, he was no match with the fire demon from Muspelheim. It was only with the sacrifice of his brothers, Vili and Ve, did he gain their powers for his own as well. Altogether with the united essence from his father and his brothers, the power now known as Odinforce, he defeats Surtur and imprisons the fire demon deep within Midgard's core. Grieved by their loss, Odin, now All-father, vowed to make peace and return order to the Nine Realms.

It has been millenniums since he's heard of the Norns interfering once more. Regrettably, the fates have cast their nets on his son.

As soon as the Norns' influence dissipates, Odin teleported before Loki's prone form and immediately raise a hand to stop Thor and Frigga from rushing forward as well. The All-father turn his countenance to face Thor, never once taking his worried eye off Loki, and instructed his heir with a slight tilt of his chin. With a nod of obedience and a whirl of his red cape, Thor took off immediately into action and called forth his friends along with the royal guards to control the crowd.

Meanwhile, a grim faced Odin spared but a glance of assurance to his wife before he raised his left palm towards Loki and set about weaving a shroud of seidr covering his son. Bit by bit, golden threads resembling the finest spider silks materialized and painstakingly cross-stitched an intricate knot pattern over the fallen prince.

By the time the golden halls were cleared, only the royal family remains. The silence wore on until upon completion of the spell, Odin stiffly closes his hand and lowers his arm before he allowed a sigh of relief to expel.

"What happened father?"

Concern thick in his voice, Thor was quick to break the fast of silence. He has long since directed all spectators to leave the premise and has quietly stood behind his mother with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Whether it was to provide or receive comfort, he didn't ponder, perhaps a bit of both.

Instead of answering though, Odin held out Gungnir towards Thor in which he accepts without question. Then the king presents an all too familiar gesture with his now empty palm for his queen to accompany him. Thus, with Frigga's gentle form beside him, Odin calmly addresses her.

"What do your senses tell you, my queen?"

At the import of his words, Frigga acknowledges his request with a quick intake of breath then with caution did she speak.

"You know the extent of my powers."

"Aye. However, we may need all the clues your skills can provide us in order to guide our wayward son. For I suspect, the verses the Norns have thus lay upon him may need it."

True comprehension lifted her brows and widened her eyes. Frigga, despite all the inborn control bred into her, tried unsuccessfully to rein in her excitement and fear for Loki. For it was not everyday a seer was in the presence of her own patrons as they task her son and not know it.

Frigga takes but a moment to compose herself before she tilts her head in acquiescence to her king. She then slipped free of his grasp and with grace, removes her formal adornments one by one. Soon a cascade of soft gold ringlets framed her shoulders as her hair, ears, neck and wrists were lay bare. The only remaining item was a simple garnet ring, an ancient relic from the dawn of the Aesir, on her right mid finger.

Gathering up her skirts above her ankles, Frigga knelt gently down before her fallen son, took in and releases a deep breath before she promptly removes the ring.

Immediately, the dampening effect dissipates and the influx of ethereal sensations electrifies her every pore. Despite her mental preparations, Frigga could never get use to the physical onslaught opening up her body upon channeling her patrons would demand. She could feel the world tree as if it was right before her. Blinding white in its intensity, her own irises bled off color and turn opaque. Thrumming with energy, pulses of blue envelops Frigga and words not of her own began to flow through her lips.

_"What do you want with me?"_

_"Ah yes, a task to seek, _  
_To collect from what is lost, _  
_What say you?"_

_"Have I a choice?"_

_"The branches of Yggdrasil have many paths, _  
_From which you take, _  
_Is yours to make."_

_"What farce is this? Your presence may have postponed the All-father's verdict, but I already know of my fate. Death's lover waits at my final destination. There is no choice to be made."_

_"Remain at the crossroads and the decision will be taken from you."_

_"Do not speak riddles to the Trickster God himself. Is not your issue of a task another mask road to redemption? Do not suppose I seek it or will value the lessons learn. I have nothing left worth to value or defend. Go spend your meddling elsewhere."_

_"Silence, Loki of No-realm."_

_"Before the dawn of winter, _  
_Gather your mortal elements, _  
_And the quest for chaos shall begin."_

The last of her recital lingers in the air with ominous overtones. Frigga's blue aura begins to shimmer and fade. Thor, having seen his mother at work before, anticipates her collapse by stepping forward to catch her. However, her body began to shake once more with another pulse of energy, this time a golden brown radiance they've never seen before fills the room.

_"Beware of stagnant waters,_  
_Drowning doves,_  
_Of rising tides,_  
_From eyes above,_  
_Calls forth the moon in blue,_  
_Enemy once mine,_  
_In solace divine,_  
_Shelter fools,_  
_Less chaos rules."_

This time, Lady Frigga gave no warning when the path to Yggdrasil was torn from her extended senses due to pure exhaustion. A painful gasp pulls from her lips. Luckily, Thor's anticipation paid off. She lay in his arms shivering, her breaths coming through in short pants. Sweat dotted her face and neck. Her pupils were dilated to black pools in deep set white. She reached blindly for her garnet ring, frantic in her gesture knowing she must have dropped it during her trance.  
Though, she needn't worry. Strong wizened hands spared Frigga of her search when her husband gently slid the ancient relic onto her mid finger once more.

She closed her eyes in relief and took a few longer moments to find her composure. When all was well and her sight has return, Frigga turns her thoughtful gaze towards her husband who mirrors her own.

"Did you intend to turn Loki into a tree until a citizen of Asgard cries for him?"

"Yes," Odin replied, only mildly curious at her odd question and ignoring Thor's quizzical brow rising in shock at Loki's intended punishment. "To teach him one of many lessons in compassion and forgiveness."

"Ah, I see."

Frigga's attempt in continuing the seriousness was lost the moment her lips threaten to rise at the corners.

"He would have been release in less than a Midgardian year, my king."

"Hm."

Odin shakes his head fondly when he turns to look at Loki but was promptly reminded of the verses his wife had recited. It was best to enjoy the peace while it last. There was much to be done.

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Reviewer Response:

To Arianissa - Thank you for the wonderful praises you've heaped on me. I am giddy with. I was trying my best to channel a more illustrative writing technique. I'm glad you've enjoyed it. I hope I can continue to warrant your praise.


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